Quentin was evidently named after an ancestor, his great-uncle Quentin. This makes him one of the very few cases in the Collins family where a name was actually repeated across the generations (despite claims to the contrary by Barnabas Collins).

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Quentin married Jenny Collins in the early 1890s. Jenny had fallen desperately in love with Quentin and hidden her gypsy heritage from him. (She was actually the sister of Magda Rakosi who lived in the Old House.) Quentin and Jenny had two children (twins) who were born after Quentin had abandoned Jenny for Laura Collins. Edward and Judith arranged for the twins to be given to a local woman, Mrs. Fillmore, to raise as her own.

Quentin did not know about his children until after his son's death. His daughter, Lenore, nearly met the same fate. Quentin intended to re-open the nursery in Collinwood for her, but the ghost of her mother intervened to save her, as long as Quentin promised never to see her again. (810). Lenore's grandchildren (and Quentin's great-grandchildren) were the twins Tom and Chris Jennings and their sister Amy; Quentin would meet the last two almost a century later.

activity in the house. He also appeared to Mrs. Johnson in Chris' (Matthew Morgan's) cottage (669) and to Maggie Evans, in the storage room of the West Wing (680). He began appearing to David in the secret room (677), and then afterwards started meeting regularly and also appearing to Amy in the drawing room (679).

His ghost was a dangerous one, appearing to people he hated and attempting to strangle them or more commonly, to frighten people. Quentin's ghost was responsible for the deaths of the medium Janet Findley (649) and the elderly silversmith Ezra Braithwaite (685). After a particularly frightening night, Professor Stokes tried to exorcise Quentin from the house, but without success (693). Quentin's ghost became even angrier and his spirit terrorized all who lived in Collinwood. He even set the Professor's room on fire before driving the entire family out of Collinwood for their own safety (694).

The family stayed at the Old House, where David lay dangerously close to death. Barnabas Collins then used the I Ching to travel back to the year 1897 to save David (701). He arrived just as the matriarch of the Collins family, Edith Collins was dying. There was a family secret that Edith never got to reveal to Edward Collins, the eldest of her grandchildren. Quentin was always trying to find out the secret, but right before she died, she saw Barnabas Collins, a vampire at the time, and told him that he was the secret and that his coffin should not have been opened. Barnabas, of course, never passed on the secret. But Quentin eventually discovered that Barnabas was a vampire. The pair would eventually become friends, supporting each other over their respective curses.

The ghost later appears in Jamison Collins' dream, hinting 3 things that could have saved Quentin if changed (767):

Quentin had an extramarital affair with Edward's wife, Laura Collins. She fled Collinwood with him in 1896 to Alexandria, Egypt. There, Quentin, working as a spy for the Egyptian police, turned her over to a cult which chose her as a human sacrifice. Had he not offered her, he would have been chosen (732). A year later, Laura would return to Collinwood, much to Quentin's horror.

Unknown to Quentin, Jenny was pregnant at the time of his departure from Collinwood. While he was away she gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. Edward and Judith Collins arranged for the children to be taken away, and the loss drove Jenny insane.

Quentin returned to Collinwood after Jamison Collins convinced Edith Collins to allow him to return. After Edith died, he conspired with Evan Hanley to get Sandor Rakosi to edit Edith's will to leave him the entire fortune instead of just leaving him a place to live in Collinwood as long as he wanted. With the help of Evan Hanley, Quentin summoned Angelique (711) to aid him against Barnabas, whom he thought was after the family fortune. Angelique was willing to help Quentin, but when he was stabbed to death by his wife, Jenny (720), it was Barnabas who asked Angelique to bring him back to life (721). She did so, but it was as a zombie. Zombie-Quentin attacked Rachel Drummond (722) before switching bodies with Jamison Collins. Angelique then allowed Jamison to return to his body and cured Quentin of his zombie trance, but the credit went to Rev. Gregory Trask, to whom Judith Collins became much indebted (725).

Next Quentin was almost killed by Angelique when Laura Collins returned (732). Angelique told Barnabas that he should let Quentin die, but Barnabas was convinced this would cause David Collins to die in 1969. So once again, Barnabas agreed to marry Angelique if she would restore Quentin to life (732).

When Jenny Collins escaped from her room at Collinwood, she saw Quentin and Beth kissing. Jenny tried to kill them, but Quentin strangled her to death. When Edward Collins told Magda about the accident, she went to see her sister's body. Magda found a button from Quentin's Jacket in Jenny's hand and knew that Quentin had killed her. Magda then placed a curse on Quentin. The curse would change Quentin and the first-born male of each generation of his descendants into werewolves (763). That night, Quentin transformed into a werewolf and brutally murdered a teacher at Worthington Hall. For the next few months, Quentin transformed into a werewolf and terrorized Collinsport, killing several of the villagers. Every morning, Quentin would be haunted by the ghosts of his slaughtered victims. This nearly drove him insane.

Beth revealed to Magda that Jenny had borne Quentin's children - and therefore Magda had cursed her own kin when she cursed Quentin. Magda tried everything she could to take the werewolf curse off of him. One day, she stole the magical hand of Count Petofi, who had been an extremely powerful warlock who had also suffered the curse of the werewolf. When Magda and Quentin performed a ceremony to remove the curse, they lost control and the Hand nearly killed him. However, Quentin transformed into a werewolf and ran out of the room.

The werewolf killed many people who were hunting for him but eventually got stuck in a bear trap. The werewolf was then taken to the Collinsport jail were he struggled to break free. When the dawn came, the werewolf transformed into Quentin, but he was not identified because he was deformed from the Hand. Quentin later escaped with the help of Barnabas. Quentin then roamed the woods and countryside, transforming into a werewolf when the moon rose and killing people much more brutally then before. When the deformed Quentin finally came to his senses, he stole the Hand from his friend Evan Hanley. Quentin was later captured by a mysterious stranger named Aristede, who claimed that he knew his secret. It turned out that Aristede was working for Count Petofi himself! When Petofi arrived in Collinsport to reclaim his hand, Quentin had restored his face. When Quentin transformed into a werewolf, he nearly killed Aristede. But he was stopped by Petofi, who seemed to have some kind of control over the werewolf, and tricked him into being kidnapped.

Quentin later escaped from the place where Petofi was holding him, and tried his best to destroy him. He joined forces with Magda, Barnabas, and even the witch Angelique. Together, they tried to destroy Petofi countless times, but each attempt failed because Petofi had reclaimed the Hand. Petofi eventually brought a painter named Charles Delaware Tate to Collinsport and had him paint a portrait of Quentin. When Charity Trask witnessed Quentin transform into the werewolf and maul a girl from the village, she began to believe that she was a woman named Pansy Faye. When Quentin's portrait was finished, he found that the portrait transformed into a werewolf and he did not. The portrait also aged while he did not, rendering Quentin effectively immortal.

Quentin's happiness from having his curse transferred to his portrait was short-lived when he discovered that Charity Trask, possessed by Pansy Faye, prophesied that he would be murdered on September 10th, 1897. When Julia Hoffman mysteriously appeared at the front door of Collinwood, Quentin found out that not only would he be murdered, but that Jamison would turn against him (837); Quentin made up to Jamison. He later had a mind switch with Count Petofi, but was able to reverse it. Eventually, he left Collinsport to meet with Amanda Harris in New York, but something happened and they were never together. In 1899 while still in New York, he became deeply emotionally involved with a woman named Caitlin and her children, but the relationship ended tragically. (The Skin Walkers)

What happened to Quentin afterwards over the following decades is for the most part unknown, but he was known to be in Chicago in 1929 (Blood Dance) and London in both 1906 and 1941 during the Blitz (London's Burning, The Creeping Fog). It is rumoured that he was recruited (albeit unwillingly) by the British Secret Service for a special mission into Nazi Germany involving a mysterious Professor Moloch (Operation Victor). Eventually, he and Amanda reunited on the set for a movie about Collinwood, but were separated when a witch trapped him in a gramophone (The Darkest Shadow). After a woman called Barbara Douglas helped him escaped, he lost all memory of his life, and assumed the identity of Barbara's dead husband, Grant (The Haunted Refrain). He appeared in Collinsport in 1969 using the name of Grant Douglas. He visited the Todds' antique shop in Collinsport and got a date with Carolyn Stoddard. However, he was hit by a car that Barnabas was driving and lost his memory (905). As he recovered, Quentin believed that his name truly was Grant Douglas. Julia Hoffman and an actress named Olivia Corey tried the best they could to help Grant get his memory back. Unknown to Grant and Julia, Olivia was an alias of his love Amanda Harris.

Julia discovered that Charles Delaware Tate was still alive in 1969. Chris Jennings (Quentin's own great-grandson) and Grant went to see him, hoping to persuade the painter to create another magical portrait that would remove Chris' werewolf curse, inherited from Grant/Quentin. This proved unsuccessful (as Count Petofi had been instrumental in imbuing the portrait with its mystical abilities), and Chris transformed into the werewolf and killed Tate. He would have also killed Grant if he had not been scared away when Grant defended himself with a silver candlestick. When Grant told Julia this, she knew that only Quentin Collins would know that werewolves are afraid of silver, having been a werewolf himself. Julia then found that Quentin's portrait (now hidden under a landscape painting) was in the hands of a wealthy man named Sky Rumson, Angelique's latest husband (who was unaware of her witchcraft). Angelique gave Julia the portrait, and she arranged for its restoration. When she showed it to Grant, his memory was restored.

Quentin's happiness was short-lived when his love Amanda Harris was taken away by a stranger named Mr. Best. Mr. Best turned out to be a manifestation of Death himself, and brought her to the land of the dead. Desperate for Amanda's love, Quentin made a deal with Death to bring Amanda back to the land of the living. However he was unable to uphold his part of the bargain and he lost her forever.

Quentin eventually moved on from Amanda and helped Barnabas, Julia, and Chris fight (and eventually defeat) an ancient race called the Leviathans. It is believed he lived for the rest of eternity.

In the TV Guide article written by Dark Shadows head writer Sam Hall revealing the outline the show would've taken had it not been cancelled sooner than expected, Quentin resumed his wanderings in an attempt to find a permanent solution to his lycanthropy, knowing he could not destroy his portrait without becoming a werewolf again. Although often tempted to return to Collinsport, destroy the portrait and then commit suicide before the next full moon triggered a transformation, he did not; he had heard rumours of Count Petofi's survival and continued to search for him in the hope he could help him.

In the 2003 audio play Return to Collinwood, Quentin returns to Collinwood after unsuccessfully searching for David in South America. He became Maggie Evans' boyfriend.

Quentin married Jenny Collins in the 1890s and she bore his two children. Quentin was unaware of her gypsy origins until after her death.

He had an affair with his sister-in-law, Laura Collins that ended in tragedy.

In 1897 Quentin met and fell in love with Amanda Harris, a beautiful woman with no past. She was pursued at the same time by Tim Shaw, Charles Delaware Tate and others, although she truly loved Quentin more than anyone. He pursued her even beyond the grave, but eventually lost her in a battle against Death (932).

He later reappeared in the 20th century using the name Grant Douglas. He met and charmed Carolyn Stoddard who was still on the rebound from Chris Jennings (Quentin's own great-grandson!) Their relationship soon turned to a warm friendship.

Angelique briefly orchestrated a romance between himself and Maggie Evans, but it did not last.

Although his son's name was never officially revealed, Quentin referred to him as "another Quentin Collins" implying that his name may have also been Quentin.

Although Quentin is first seen in episode 646, his voice isn't heard until an off-screen laugh in 689. He has no actual dialogue until episode 701.

According to Sam Hall's article Quentin never destroyed his portrait because he would again become a werewolf. Yet surely if he destroyed the portrait his chronological age would catch up with him and he would die on the spot? He was a hundred years old when the series ended, and over 130 years old in Return to Collinwood.